Inundated with Information: Navigating Challenges in Data Gathering
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In this instalment of our "Senior Thesis" series, we speak with Eric Ahn, a researcher working on a fascinating project about asylum approval rates for unaccompanied child migrants in the European Union and the United States.
Eric's research journey began when he found himself in need of a comprehensive dataset to study the topic at hand. Unfortunately, no central data set was available, so he had to build one himself. He tracked down quarterly disclosures of UAC asylum applications from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
To manage the six years' worth of data, Eric had to cope with a surprising request from the data clearinghouse – a one-week timeframe and a fee of $265 for an Excel spreadsheet. Faced with this challenge, Eric turned to online PDF to Excel converters, such as PDFtoExcel.com or iLovePDF, which provided a quick and cost-effective solution. These tools allowed him to convert his PDF files within minutes, offering a valuable quantitative dimension of analysis that he would not have had otherwise.
As Eric delved deeper into his data, he noticed some intriguing trends. Preliminary results show that San Francisco and Arlington are significant outliers from the mean United States asylum grant rate for unaccompanied child migrants. While asylum rates in both cities started to rise around the time of the Central American child migrant "surge" in mid-2014, the drop is significantly more pronounced in Arlington. The reason for this precipitous drop remains unclear.
Eric's thesis defense is scheduled for April 3, where he will present his findings and answer questions from a panel of experts. During this critical step in the completion of his research project, Eric will discuss his methodology, findings, and potential implications of his research.
Stay tuned for more updates on Eric's exciting research journey and the insights he uncovers about asylum approval rates for unaccompanied child migrants in the European Union and the United States.
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Key tips for best results:
- Use clear, digital (not scanned) PDFs if possible, as scanned images may reduce accuracy.
- Review the converted Excel file quickly to fix any minor formatting or data placement errors.
- Keep original PDFs to reconvert if needed with adjusted settings.
For instant online conversion, the general steps are:
- Upload your PDF to the chosen tool (e.g., PDFtoExcel.com).
- The tool automatically converts the file, usually within a few minutes.
- Download the Excel output to analyze or manipulate as desired.
- Eric's senior thesis on asylum approval rates for unaccompanied child migrants required data-and-cloud-computing, which led him to convert PDF files to Excel using online tools like PDFtoExcel.com and iLovePDF as a cost-effective solution.
- For education-and-self-development purposes, Eric is using online-education resources to craft his senior thesis, once complete, he will present his findings in a defense, covering his methodology, findings, and potential implications.
- In the process of his research, technology played a crucial role, not only in collecting and analyzing data but also in converting files from PDF to Excel, essential for his learning and final presentation.
